bright windy tassels
skip raindrops across sunlight,
each finger a kiss
wrapped around your stem
of heightened poetry. I
hear birds whistle by,
and waltz with your words
a shimmering memory
pressed against my skin
and you flow through me
as I look up to the sky
and wait for your hands
- Rachel Gilliatt

this damn draught
laps against
the table top,
strategically
positioned
by a
buoy
bobbing
parallel
to the
bathtub
in another 9-5 breeze...
and so, you
anchor
my face
against
the mirror,
while I,
yearning
to sail,
wipe away
cloudy
bullet
points
- Rachel Gilliatt

hospital skin
clawing
under my nails
the scabs
from when you
were here.
the radio
still sings -
top 40 though.
cells
are songs untold:
non/malignant
non/operable
or/maybe
full of heart
beating
each other
and jumping line
one step
closer to
the end:
like that song
we all know
stuck in our head
- Rachel Gilliatt

Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.Using the phone is a very unnatural way to talk to someone.
knot
these tangles
barbed wire
could comb through
the custody
of no-man's land
a dial tone
on hold
tapped dry
of sign language
..
...
now you say you've gone
wireless
and hang up
the anchor
coiled
around your fingers
yet you dial
1876
but still
there is no answer
when you call
- Rachel Gilliatt

only once
did I see
the sky streak
naked
eyelashes
through
the clouds:
it crafted
breathy
fingerprints
in stone
and laced
our palms
together
in petrified
tree rings.
it was only
this morning
I found myself
in the hills
of your knuckles.
my lashes
meeting
your cheeks
as I carved
a smile
and we
wrapped
ourselves
in wrinkles
to keep
warm.
- Rachel Gilliatt

on the outside
knock
knock
jokes
punch lines
through
doors
hauling right;
then left
behind
on a stepping
stone path
stooped
over.
riddles play
hopscotch
with
dead-end
sobs
twisting
linty fingers
with keys
that tickle,
tease,
and swing
high,
then low:
pushing
and pumping
air
between
her legs
- Rachel Gilliatt